Corned Beef and Cabbage

Sure we only make this once a year, but it's a very important meal so it better be done right.  The recipe hails from Cook's Country and it's a serious keeper.  It's slow cooked so it takes a while, but that is mostly just waiting around as a slow oven does it's thing.  I have used a traditional corned beef and cabbage recipe many, many times over the years but this slow cooked versions produced the most tender meat ever, simply falling apart in your mouth.  And the seasonings are far superior to the little packages that come with the meat.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Combine first 10 ingredients (meat on bottom, fat side up) in Dutch oven.  Cover and bake until fork slips easily in and out of meat, about 4½ to 5½ hours.

Transfer meat to a 9x13-inch baking dish.  Strain cooking liquid through a fine-mesh strainer into large bowl, discard solids, and skim fat from liquid.  Pour 1 cup cooking liquid over meat.  Cover dish tightly with aluminum foild and allow to rest for 30 minutes.

Return remaining  cooking liquid to Dutch oven, add butter, and bring to simmer over medium-high heat.  Add potatoes and cook until they begin to soften, about 10 minutes.  Add carrot halves and cabbage, cover, and cook until tender, 10 to 15 minutes.  Transfer veggies to a serving platter and season with black pepper to taste.

Transfer beef to cutting board and slice against the grain into quarter-inch slices.  Serve with veggies.

Notes:

1. Use flat-cut brisket, not point-cut; it's more uniform in shape and thus cooks more evenly.
2. When slicing the cabbage, leave the core intact or the cabbage will fall apart during cooking.
3. Depending on the size of your Ditch oven you might find yourself running out of room.  If necessary omit some of cabbage wedges or other veggies to make room.